An Indian Army soldier, along with his friend, was arrested in Kerala on Tuesday for giving false information about six people assaulting him and painting “PFI” on his back, reported NDTV.
The soldier, Shine Kumar, had claimed that he was attacked on Sunday night in a rubber forest near his house in Kollam. They tied up his hands with tape, and painted “PFI” on his back with green paint, he said.
PFI refers to the Popular Front of India, an organisation that was banned by the Central government in September last year.
“He filed a complaint before the Kadakkal Police Station and during the course of investigation, it was revealed that his complaint was false,” R Prathapan Nair, the additional superintendent of police at Kollam Rural, said, reported ANI.
The police have recovered green paint, brush and tape that were allegedly used in the incident.
His friend claimed that Kumar asked him to beat him and write “PFI” on his back to get famous.
“I was drunk, so I initially wrote DFI, but he said to write PFI,” the friend said. “Then he asked me to beat him up, but I said I could not because I was drunk.”
Kumar then asked his friend to drag him on the ground, which the friend said he could not do in an intoxicated state. “So, he asked me to tape his mouth and hands and then to leave,” said the friend.
Kumar is posted in the Indian Army’s Electronics and Mechanical Engineers Corps in Rajasthan, according to Hindustan Times.
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